1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a portable electronic device with a system module slidably connected to an expansion base module through a sliding unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a conventional portable computer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,478. The portable computer includes a base module 91 formed with a pair of opposite rail sliding grooves 911, and a display panel 92 that is mounted pivotally and slidably on the base module 91 through a pair of pivot pins 921 that respectively extend into the rail sliding grooves 911. The display panel 92 is pivotable relative to the base module 91 so as to lie on top of the base module 91 (as illustrated in FIG. 2) when the display panel 92 is slid to a front end of the base module 91. As such, the portable computer can serve as a tablet computer.
The conventional portable computer is disadvantageous in that the display panel 92 tends to be tilted or unbalanced with respect to the base module 91 during sliding on the base module 91. As a consequence, sliding movement of the display panel 92 is not smooth. Moreover, a relatively large friction between the pivot pins 921 and a housing of the base module 91 occurs due to the aforesaid tilting problem, which can result in severe wearing of the pivot pins 921 and the housing of the base module 91.
The whole disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,478 is incorporated herein by reference.